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Afghan Americans
Estimate 200,000+ (2001) |popplace = California, Northern Virginia, New York metropolitan area, Florida, Chicago, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, D.C. |langs = Majority: Dari (Afghan Persian) and Pashto other languages of Afghanistan and American English |rels = Predominantly Islam minorities of Atheism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism }} Afghan Americans are Americans of Afghan descent or Americans who originated from Afghanistan. Afghan Americans may originate from any of the ethnic groups of Afghanistan. History and population Afghan Americans have a long history of immigrating to the United States, as they have arrived as early as the 1860s. This was around the time when Afghanistan–United States relations were being established. Wallace Fard Muhammad, credited for being the founder of the Nation of Islam, may have been from Afghanistan. A World War I draft registration card for Wallie Dodd Fard from 1917 indicated he was living in Los Angeles, California, as an unmarried restaurant owner, and reported that he was born in Shinka, Afghanistan in 1893.Ancestry.com database, Registration Location: Los Angeles County, California; Roll: 1530899; Draft Board: 17 Between the 1920s and 1940s, hundreds of Afghans immigrated to the United States. Between 1953 and early 1970, at least 230 lawfully entered the United States, meaning that the U.S. government was aware of their entry. Some of those who entered the United States were students who had won scholarships to study in American universities. After the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, around five million Afghan citizens were displaced, being forced to immigrate or seek refuge in other countries. These Afghan refugees mostly settled in neighboring Pakistan and Iran, and from there many made it to the European Union (EU), North America, Australia, and elsewhere in the world. Those who were granted refugee status in the United States began to settle in the New York metropolitan area, California (mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles-Orange County area) and in the Northeastern United States, where large Muslim community centers keep them closely bonded. Fremont, California, is home to the largest population of Afghan Americans followed by Northern Virginia. Smaller Afghan American communities also exist in the states of Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Washington, D.C. In the city of Chicago, the 2000 census counted 556 Afghans, approximately half of them within the city. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were approximately 65,972 Afghan-Americans living in the country in 2006. The American Community Survey (ACS) estimates a total of 94,726 Afghan foreign-born immigrants residing in the United States in 2016, which shows a 30% increase in the last ten years. Congress passed the Afghan Allies Protection Act in 2009, which was motivated by the ongoing War on Terror. This Act stated that Afghans who agreed to work with the U.S. government as translators and interpreters in Afghanistan are eligible for special immigrant visas (SIVs) after completing one year of employment. Because these individuals put their lives at risk for the interest of U.S. intelligence, Afghans eligible for SIVs are able to use this as a pathway towards lawful permanent residence for both themselves and their immediate family members.https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/sites/default/files/Afghan-SIV-Fact-Sheet-Dec-2016.pdf Since 2005, tens of thousands of Afghans have been admitted to the United States under special programs such as the Special Immigrant Visa.https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/SIVs/Afghan%20SIV%20public%20report_Jan%202016.pdf From the fiscal year of 2007 to 2015, a total of 19,916 Afghans were issued a Special Immigrant Visa. http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/library/P8979.pdf Culture Like all other immigrants living in the United States, Afghan Americans have gradually adopted the American way of life but some still value their traditional culture. They watch Afghan television stations, listen to Afghan music, and eat traditional Afghan food at home. They also value their oral tradition of story telling. The stories they usually tell are about Nasreddin, Afghan history, myths and religion. Afghan Americans celebrate August 19 as "Afghan Day". It is a commemoration of the Afghan Independence Day, which relates to August 1919, the date when Afghanistan became globally recognized after the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 was signed. Eid and Nowruz remain popular festivals for Afghans. Small festivals are held in cities that have Afghan communities, usually at the parks where black, red and green colored Afghan flags are spotted around cars. Ethnicity and religion in Flushing, Queens, New York City.]] Afghan Americans are composed of the various ethnic groups that exist in Afghanistan, which include Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, and a number of others. In a 2002 analysis, American researchers reported that approximately 65% of Afghan Americans are ethnic Tajiks. For the purpose of the United States Census in 2000, Afghans were racially categorized as being White American; individual Afghan Americans may self identify as being Asian, Middle Eastern, or white. In 2017, the United States Census Bureau continues to classify Afghans as White for race, and as in South Asia for ancestry. Most Afghan Americans are Muslims, the majority of whom follow Sunni Islam, with a sizable community of Shia Muslims. There is a community of Afghan Jews in New York City, numbering about 200 families in 2007. In addition, a group of Afghan Americans in the Los Angeles area follow Christianity. Hussain Andaryas is an Afghan Christian televangelist who belongs to the Hazara ethnic group. Outside of the Abrahamic faiths, there exists a community of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs, concentrated in New York and Maryland. Economic status Afghan immigrants that arrived to the United States before 1979 were well-educated. In contrast, current immigrants have fled Afghanistan after it destabilized during the 1979 Soviet occupation as this group has had trouble coping with learning a new language. Those who have pursued their education in America in the middle 20th century and traveled back to Afghanistan, faced trouble attaining employment when returning to the United States since their education, often in medicine and engineering, is frequently viewed as outdated. After the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan's education system worsened, causing many migrants in the late 20th century to place less emphasis on educational attainment. Some of the latest Afghan immigrants can be found as vendors in Manhattan where they have replaced Greek Americans in the field. Notable people presents George W. Bush an Afghan ballot from the 2004 presidential election in Afghanistan.]] , served as President of San Jose State University and California State University, East Bay.]] at the White House in 2007, with Bush and Laura Bush.]] Politics, academia and literature *Ali Ahmad Jalali – Distinguished Professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. *Said Tayeb Jawad – Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States from 2003 to 2010 *Zalmay Khalilzad – United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2007 to 2009. He previously served as United States Ambassador to Afghanistan and United States Ambassador to Iraq *Mohammad Qayoumi – Former President of San Jose State University *Nazif Shahrani – Professor of anthropology at Indiana University *Ishaq Shahryar – Afghan Ambassador to the United States from 2002 to 2003 *Wali Karzai – Professor of Bio-Chemistry at Stony Brook University *M. Ishaq Nadiri – Professor of economics at NYU and signatory at 2001 Afghanistan Bonn conference *Nake M. Kamrany – Professor of economics at University of Southern California *Haris Tarin – Director of Muslim Public Affairs Council ( MPAC) *Tamim Ansary – Author of West of Kabul, East of New York, a book published in 2001, shortly after the "9-11" attacks. *Khaled Hosseini – Best-selling author whose work includes The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns *Fariba Nawa – Author of Opium Nation and journalist *Qais Akbar Omar – Author of A Fort of Nine Towers and co-author of Shakespeare in Kabul *Hamid Naweed, author and art historian Business and finance *Mahmoud Karzai – Brother of former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and owner of Afghan cuisine restaurant *Qayum Karzai – Brother of former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and owner of Afghan cuisine restaurants in the Southern California and Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area *Ehsan Bayat – Business entrepreneur who founded Afghan Wireless *Abdul W. Haqiqi – Economist and co-author of a number of published and cited works concerning Islamic banking accounting standards Sports *Hailai Arghandiwal - plays for the Afghanistan women's national football team and C.F. Florentia in Serie A *Adam Najem – plays for the Afghanistan national football team and Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer *David Najem – plays for the Afghanistan national football team and Tampa Bay Rowdies in the United Soccer League *Alex Hinshaw – Former baseball pitcher *Jeff Bronkey – Former baseball player *Ahmad Hatifi – Plays for Afghan national football team *Mohammad Mashriqi - Afghan international soccer player Media and art *Azita Ghanizada – Actress and TV host, she appeared in a number of films and TV shows *Donnie Keshawarz - Canadian-American stage, film and television actor of Afghan descent *Sonia Nassery Cole – Actress and director *Anwar Hajher – Filmmaker and professor, 16 Days in Afghanistan *Youssof Kohzad – Artist, Poet, Painter and Actor *Zakia Kohzad – Former Afghan actress and news anchor *Nabil Miskinyar – Television anchor *Jawed Wassel – Writer/Director of first Afghan Oscar contender Feature Film called FireDancer. *Josh Gad – Actor appearing in ''Frozen'' and ''Jobs''. Afghan-Jewish father. *Leena Alam – Actress from Kabuli Kid, Loori, Soil and Coral, and The Unknown *Fahim Fazli – Actor who appears in various films, such as Iron Man *Robert Joffrey – born Abdullah Jaffa Bey Khan is known for co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet *Aman Mojadidi – Artist whose art focuses on Afghan politics and cross-cultural identity *Noor Wodjouatt, founder of Zarin TV and performer at Kennedy Center Afghan music singers *Farhad Darya – Singer of Afghan music *Jawad Ghaziyar – Singer of Afghan music *Rahim Jahani – Singer of Afghan music *Naim Popal – Singer of Afghan music *Ahmad Wali – Singer of Afghan music *Omar Akram – Afghan American Pianist who won a Grammy award for best new age album *Aziz Herawi- Famous Afghan Classical musician Beauty pageant contestants *Zohra Daoud – Miss Afghanistan 1974 *Vida Samadzai – Beauty for a Cause of Miss Earth 2003 Afghan royalty Other *Hevad Khan – professional Poker player *Ahmad Khan Rahami – suspect in the 2016 New York and New Jersey bombings *Omar Mateen – perpetrator of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting *Najibullah Zazi – pleaded guilty to being part of the 2009 U.S. Al Qaeda group that planned suicide bombings on the New York City Subway system America's longest war , Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.]] After the September 11 attacks in 2001, a mosque run by Afghan-Americans in New York City donated blood, held a vigil for those who died inside the World Trade Center (WTC) and funded a memorial for NYC fire fighters. Since late 2001, after the start of America's longest war, many Afghan-Americans have worked alongside the United States Armed Forces as interpreters, contractors and journalists. A number of them were wounded or killed while on duty inside Afghanistan. See also *Afghan diaspora *Afghanistan–United States relations *Demographics of Afghanistan *Pashtun American References External links *Afghan American Demographics *Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce *'Little Kabul' immigrants apprehensive (2001) *In Va.'s Little Kabul, Joy; Afghans' Celebration Tempered by Fears Of Renewed Division Category:Afghan American Category:American people of Afghan descent Category:Afghan diaspora Category:Central Asian American